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Vampires 101 Trivia Quiz

This is a quiz of basic facts on vampires of folklore. Be forewarned, though, that the "real" vampires were very different from the folks in today's movies and novels!

A multiple-choice quiz by Stuthehistoryguy. Estimated time: 7 mins.

Author
Stuthehistoryguy

Time
7 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
191,860

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Very Difficult

Avg Score
4 / 10

Plays
5126

Awards
Top 10% Quiz

Last 3 plays: Guest 45 (4/10), colbymanram (9/10), Guest 174 (1/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Vampires are known in many cultures as shapeshifters. Almost all Slavic vampires were said to assume the form of mist to escape the grave, and in some tales it seems like Russian vampires could turn into almost anything! Which of the following forms could European folkloric vampires almost certainly NOT assume? Hint

Wolf

Moth or butterfly

Magpie

Bat

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Question 2 of 10

2. True or false: Though a staple of vampire stories, the wooden stake has been known to fail in killing a vampire.

True

False

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Question 3 of 10

3. There are a number of ways to get rid of a vampire, some more invasively than others. There is, however, one method in Eastern European practice which never seems to fail. What is it? Hint

Eating dirt from the vampire's grave, thus vaccinating oneself from vampirism

Staking it to the ground

Granting the vampire absolution from sin

Cremation

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Question 4 of 10

4. Emily Gerard's 1885 essay, "Transylvanian Superstitions", is often cited as a major source for "Dracula" author Bram Stoker's knowledge of vampires. According to Gerard, how does one become a vampire? Hint

Be the illegitimate child of two illegitimate children

Cheat at football (soccer west of the pond)

Die in a clan vendetta

Be born out of wedlock on Christmas

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Question 5 of 10

5. Which of the following religious scholars did NOT at one time or another express a belief in vampires in his writings? Hint

Twentieth-Century translator Montague Summers

Eighteenth-Century Roman Catholic conservative Augustin Calmet

Sixteenth-Century Protestant Reformer John Calvin

Seventeenth-Century Anglican liberal Henry More

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Question 6 of 10

6. In the vast majority of collected folkloric accounts, from what social class do most vampires originate? Hint

Peasantry

Royalty

Aristocracy (this includes "Counts" and "Voivodes")

Clergy

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Question 7 of 10

7. Which of these is NOT a true statement about the relationship of vampires to witches in premodern belief? Hint

Witches were living, while vampires were almost always dead

Witches were usually persecuted by the common people, while vampires were handled by authorities

Witch trials were more common in Catholic and Protestant countries like Germany and France, while vampire hunts were more common in Eastern Orthodox countries like Greece and Bulgaria

Both witches and vampires were widely believed to have some connection with Satan, though both beliefs probably had pagan antecedents

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Question 8 of 10

8. In folklore, how long does a vampire usually plague a village? Hint

A vampire will haunt a village until everyone it knew in life is dead

Not very long--the villagers usually take care of business in a hurry

Vampires usually subsist on the blood of the living for centuries

For one year

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Question 9 of 10

9. True or False: most vampires are invincible in hand to hand combat, often taking on entire regiments in a fight.

True

False

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Question 10 of 10

10. A Romani (Balkan Gypsy) vampire hunter is called a dhampir. As the son of a vampire, the dhampir can see the creature, though it is usually invisible to normal people. In the ritual killing of the invisible vampire, how does the dhampir visualize his opponent? Hint

He goes to the graveyard and releases a handful of ashes to the wind; the dhampir can see the vampire in the shapes the swirling ashes take

He "steals" a diamond from the richest woman in the village and looks through it to find the vampire

He takes off his shirt and looks through the sleeve

He kills a chicken or goat and uses its blood to make a circle in the dirt; the invisible vampire is compelled to step into the circle

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Bat

The bat cliche is a literary fusion of the vampire and the South American flying mammal that shares its name. Vampires certainly have an affinity with wolves; the Serbian word "vukodlak" and the Russian word "eretik" can mean either "werewolf" or "vampire".

In at least one Russian story, a vampire being cremated turns into a host of animals, including magpies, snakes, and maggots, in an attempt to escape. Likewise, in Macedonian folklore, the spirit of a newly dead person is sometimes said to escape in the form of a moth or butterfly, returning to the corpse to make it a vampire.

2. True or false: Though a staple of vampire stories, the wooden stake has been known to fail in killing a vampire.

Answer: True

For example, a vampire from the Czech town now known as Kadan reportedly thanked his assailants for giving him a stick to drive away wild dogs. Similarly, the incredulous French botanist Pitton de Tournefort witnessed a vampire being staked, eviscerated, and pinned with sabers, all to no avail. In both cases, the vampire ended up being cremated.

3. There are a number of ways to get rid of a vampire, some more invasively than others. There is, however, one method in Eastern European practice which never seems to fail. What is it?

Answer: Cremation

Eating dirt famously did NOT work in the case of Arnold Paole, which was widely published all over Europe in 1732. The stake, as noted above, is also fallible. Granting absolution does actually work in some stories, but cremation is by far the end-all cure for vampirism. Unless the vampire escapes in the form of some vermin, reducing the body to ashes works every time--even for so-called "spectral" vampires!

Answer: Be the illegitimate child of two illegitimate children

The 1960 film "Curse of the Werewolf" does contain the accidental birth at Christmas as a cause of lycanthropy, but neither it, cheating, nor violent death are mentioned by Gerard.

5. Which of the following religious scholars did NOT at one time or another express a belief in vampires in his writings?

Answer: Sixteenth-Century Protestant Reformer John Calvin

Calmet, who once thought he had converted the Deist Voltaire (only to have Voltaire later recant), wrote perhaps the best-known vampire books of the era. More included vampire stories as proof of divine and diabolical activity in his 1653 "Antidote Against Atheism". Summers wrote several books on the supernatural, in which he was a firm believer.

John Calvin is not known to have written on vampires. If you have evidence to the contrary, please let me know.

6. In the vast majority of collected folkloric accounts, from what social class do most vampires originate?

Answer: Peasantry

There is the occasional urban vampire, and some vampires appear to have been somewhat well-off in life, but priests as vampires are rare, and vampiric aristocrats and monarchs are unheard of. The vast majority of vampires were poor peasants. Note: though Vlad Dracula and Elizabeth Bathory were vicious folks, there are no extant stories of them returning as undead before they were embraced by the fertile minds of modern fiction.

7. Which of these is NOT a true statement about the relationship of vampires to witches in premodern belief?

Answer: Witches were usually persecuted by the common people, while vampires were handled by authorities

When authorites did make a pronouncement on vampires, it was to tell the peasants to stop digging up cemeteries. Among those to prohibit vampire hunting were Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa and Serbian King Milos Obrenovic.

8. In folklore, how long does a vampire usually plague a village?

Answer: Not very long--the villagers usually take care of business in a hurry

The entire point of most vampire belief is to have something to strike against when the community is besieged by sickness, drought, or what have you. The dead are blamed, and the dead are attacked. Thus, the vampire doesn't last for long.

9. True or False: most vampires are invincible in hand to hand combat, often taking on entire regiments in a fight.

Answer: False

In fact, a staple of vampire stories has the family of a prospective victim chasing the vampire away before it can attack.

Answer: He takes off his shirt and looks through the sleeve

Once the dhampir can see the vampire, he wrestles it until he wins, dispelling the vampire forever. He is usually well-paid for this spectacle.

Source: Author Stuthehistoryguy

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